A healthier and happier 2013

So far in 2013 I haven't been feeling particularly great for a number of reasons, but this year I want to aim for a healthy and happy year!

I have put on some weight over the last couple of years, mainly due to moving into an office job where I don't get much opportunity to be active and am generally too tired and demotivated to do any exercise when I get home. I want to lose about half a stone to make me feel better about myself.

I am planning to do this not by drastically changing my eating habits as generally they are not too bad, but by introducing more exercise into my life and by making more informed choices.

I eat quite a lot of fresh food as due to food allergies it is easier for me to cook from scratch than to go down the ready meal or takeaway route. The main changes I need to make are to add more fresh fruit and veg to my diet and to keep an eye on my portion sizes when eating with my boyfriend.

Most importantly I MUST start doing some exercise! I never used to have to do any specific exercise as I previously had an extremely active job. As I get older and am now spending a lot of time sat at my desk I have found it difficult to find an exercise regime that inspires and motivates me. The few times I have managed to get myself in some sort of routine of trying to take up some sort of exercise, the routine has been ruined by illness or work pressures.

I know that if I exercise I will feel better about myself, it will raise my mood and it will make me look better, but I just can't motivate myself to do anything!

In the last week I have done sit ups on 3 occasions and have also done 30 minutes of step on the wii fit. I know it's not much, but it's a start. I have also downloaded the myfitnesspal app to record my eating habits and exercise so hopefully this will motivate me further to do something to lose that half stone and keep it off!

Are any of you doing anything special to make your life healthier and happier? Do you struggle to get motivated to exercise or get stuck in the vicious circle of not being able to force yourself to exercise due to a low mood?

A Year in the Life

As it was my birthday this week I have been thinking about what a year really is and how it is defined in different circumstances.

For example, we have the calendar year which starts on 1 January, the financial year on 1 April, a year of our life which starts on our birthday, anniversaries, special events etc, etc. I think you get the picture.

I think the year which probably means the least to me is the calendar year. Such a fuss is made each year about New Years Eve and having a good time. But to me, it’s just another day and a chance for businesses to make some money. It doesn’t really mean anything when the clock strikes midnight. It happens every day!

I know other people will feel differently about New Year, but it’s just a total anticlimax for me.

This week I was thinking about the past year in terms of the year I was 25, and whether it was a good or a bad year for me.

I’ve come to the conclusion that actually, it was a pretty good year in the grand scheme of things. I went on holiday, had a day out in London, felt confident enough to visit London on my own, made some fab new friends, went on a creative writing course and have read loads of great books. And even better, I have finally started to be comfortable in my own skin and not worry so much about the fact that I am ‘different’ and a bit of a geek. I’ve found that there are plenty of other people out there like me and that the people I care about like me as I am, not how I think people want me to be!

That is quite a revelation for me. To be able to be yourself shouldn’t be that difficult, but it is something I have always struggled with to an extent as I have been too worried what other people think of me and surrounded by those who are very ‘normal’ and basically, not like me.

Well, anyway, here’s to being who you want to be and not following the crowd! And let’s hope that 26 will be even better than 25!!

 

Come fly with me

So it's been a long time since I have blogged as I have had a little break, but I'm back and I expect there to be an up in my blogging action as I am going to review some books and get back into the blogging swing!

July was a big month for me as I went on my first ever holiday abroad, and it was amazing!!

We went to Playa Taurito in Gran Canaria, which is a small resort between the towns of Puerto Mogan and Puerto Rico. This is the gorgeous view from our balcony:

We stayed in an all inclusive couples hotel which was great as we had as much food and drink as we wanted and there were no screaming kids to contend with. It was lovely and relaxing being able to sit by the pool with a pina colada and a book!

The water park you can see was next to our hotel and a little bit noisy, but nothing you couldn't get over. Every afternoon a "DJ" came on and played the same three songs and shouted over them which was quite funny. Particularly as when we got home and put the ipod on, the first song that came on was one of the three the waterpark dude played!




On the Friday we visited the pretty market town of Puerto Mogan. There was a full on tourist market with some "lookey lookey men" trying to flog us the same crap they sell in our local market, but it all said Gran Canaria on for the tourists!

We didn't think much of the market, but the town itself was very pretty with a harbour full of a mixture of yachts and fishing boats and canals running through the town.

It was a lovely change to walk around the town and strange to see the canals when the rivers we passed on the way down had dried up.

It was really hot because it was a built up area so we were relieved when we got back to the pool!






The hotel had entertainment was a bit hit and miss, but there were a few crackers. My favourite acts were a drag act (I have posted a pic of him being Tina Turner) and the flamenco dancers.



We had an amazing holiday, although, after being back for three weeks, it now feels like we have never been away! On to booking the next one then...



P.S. This is my 100th post! Woohoo!


4 day weekend!!

Woohoo!! I have just had day 1 of my 4 day weekend. And I am loving it.

So far I have been to get some treats from Waitrose and Asda (and panic buy my mother in law's birthday present as someone forgot it it next week!), read some of my book and napped with Bruce.

My plan for this evening is to eat my treats from Waitrose, drink Prosecco and maybe watch some crap TV that I have missed out on over the last week. I'm also looking at the Cath Kidston website as I want a new bag and can't decide which one I want as they've stopped doing the one that I loved!

Oh, I also bought 3 books in Asda (it was rude not to, they were so cheap!) and 2 CDs which were on offer.

What is everyone else doing this weekend?

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone enjoyed whatever they were doing last night to welcome 2012.

We stay in on NYE and have done for the last few days as it's just so expensive to go out and we find that we have more fun at home on our own. Last night we got dolled up (to stay in!) and had a little buffet of yummy food, listened to music, played on the Wii and had a few drinks. When midnight came we watched Big Ben chiming on BBC, cracked open a bottle of bubbly and then lit some sparklers in the garden and watched our neighbours fireworks and lanterns!

We had a lovely evening and I didn't have a bad head when I woke up this morning and that's always a bonus! We had a bit of a mammoth lie in as I wanted to read my book When God was a rabbit by Sarah Winman as I was desperate to know more, so I left Steve sleep for a while and Bruce was wandering round and coming for a cwtch when he decided I deserved one!

I have high hopes for 2012 and really want it to be a good year. I've had a lot of crap ones and feel like this could be the one to be better! I have some things I want to do that are not resolutions as such, more hopes for the year ahead (this may be the same thing, but I'm never sure exactly what a resolution is!).

I really want to go on my first holiday this year and carry on doing new things and achieving things I never thought I was good enough to do. I managed to get over a lot of fears in 2011 and do things I thought I never would, even though they were all small things to other people. They were huge achievements for me though and I want to keep going on this!

I also want to carry on being myself and to stop worrying about whether other people think I am normal or not. I want to do things I enjoy and make the best of my life to do what I want to do.

Basically, I need to learn to be more selfish and look after myself more to avoid getting really ill again and to learn to control the way I think about myself.

So, 2012 is going to be all about me!!!

Ok, me and books. And maybe chocolate. And Steve and my friends. And Bruce.

Maybe I need to work on this all about me thing!